Peanut-shelling machine



Dec. 18 1923. 1,477,648

, J. T. HUSTON PEANUT SHELLING MACHINE Filed May 16, 1919 s Sheets-Sheet1 M 7 gwuentoz Dec, 18 1923. 31,477,648 J. T. HUSTON PEANUT SHELLINGMACHINE Filed May 16 1919 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 a QZ Z/@ amvawtoz Dec. 18,1923.

J. T. HUSTON PEANUT SHELLING MACHINE Filed May 16 1919 3 Sheets-Sheet 5Patented Dec. 18, 1923..

UNHTED TATES JOHN THOMAS HUS'I'ON, OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA.

PEANUT-SHELLING MACHINE.

Application filed May 16,

T all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I. JOHN T. HUSTON, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Columbus, in the county. of Muscogee and State ofGeorgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPeanut-shelling Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a novel mechaw nism for shelling peanuts and thelike.

My invention operates on the novel principle of shelling the peanuts byfriction, i. e., by abrading instead of crushing the shells between therelatively movable elements of the shelling mechanism. As at presentconstructed, peanut shelling machines comprise a grate, usually concavein shape and customarily fixed, while a rotating crushing elementtravels in close association with the 0 grate so as to crush the shellsof the peanuts between it and the grate. after which the kernels fallthrough the grate. In some constructions the grate is the movableelement but in all shellers with which I am familiar the two relativelymovable elements of the shelling machine operate on the principle ofcrushing the shell between them to liberate the kernels, and in order toreduce the breakage of kernels to a minimum the relative movement of thecrushing elements is comparatively slow. According to my invention, therelatively movable elements of the shelling machine are spaced so that arelatively'thick mass of peanuts is maintained between them and causedto move with the rotor at a relatively high rate of speed, the shells ofthtTnuts being ground by their frictional engagement with the grate andeach other until the shells open 40 and set free the kernels.

It is therefore essential to my invention that the relativelv movableelements of the crusher be spaced to avoid a direct crushing act-ion onthe shells and that they have a sufficiently high relative speed toproduce by a frictional abrasion of the shells an output o-fshelled nutsnot less than that ob- I tained by the direct crushing action but whichwill have the advantage of having an extremely low percentage of brokenkernels as compared with the crushing practice.

A further object of my invention is to design a novel type of sectionalgrate which is assembled in a novel manner.

A further object is to design the sections 1919. Serial No. 297,608.

of this grate so that they may be cast, even when forming sections of aconcave grate, with slots which all flare downwardly so that they willnot become choked. To this end the walls of the slots about the concaveare all set to strip vertically from the sand mold. This arrangement isimportant in that it permits me to cast the grate sections with a veryhard grinding surface so as to give great life and durability to thegrate.

A further distinctive feature of my invention relates to the provisionon the grate surface of raised projections or grinding humps which arepreferably diamond shaped with their grinding edges both parallel and atan angle toan axial plane through the concave. These humps areespecially provided to abrade or grind away the coarse tough shells ofcertain grades of peanuts as the latter are rapidly revolved over thegrate by the action of the rotor.

A further object of my invention relates to the very simple andconvenient manner of assembling the sectional concave gate in the endwalls of the shelling machine so that the latter can be easily set upand quickly repaired at a comparatively small cost.

A further object of my invention is to improve and perfect the rotatableelement in the shelling machine so that it will most effectively movethe peanuts over the grate surface so as to produce the grinding actionon the peanut shells and to this end I utilize a sectional cylindercomposed of'a series of convex ribbed disks which are assembled on ashaft so as to produce a cylinder having spaced circumferential V-shapedchannels, the outer smooth peripheral edges of the disks traveling inrelatively close proximity to the grate while the side walls of thechannels are provided with radial ribs which enable the cylinder todrive the peanuts with a rapid movement over the grate so as to producethe necessary friction to open the shells and free the kernelswithoutcrushing the peanuts.

A further object of my invention is to design the top hopper boards ofthe shelling machine so that they can be easily adjusted to expose theinternal operating mechanism for inspection and repair.

My invention also comprises the novel details of construction andarrangements of parts, which in their preferred embodiment 'chute asthey are shifted to expose the internal mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective View of one of the grate sections withits side retaining bars.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged side elevation broken away at one end through thegrate and rotor to show the latter in cross section.

Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse sectional view through the grateillustrating its peculiar design to permit the grate to strip verticallyfrom the sand mold.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the grate illustrating moreclearly the diamond shaped projections which form an additional abradingor grinding element of the grate.

Figs. 7 and 8 present plan and vertical cross sectional views of amodified type of peanut shelling, separating and screening apparatus.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout thedrawings.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1,

2 and 4, I show a power driven oil milltype of peanut sheller providedwith a bottom discharge for the kernels and shells into an aspiratorsub-base (not shown), where by air suction the hulls are lifted out andpiped away while the shelled nuts from a battery of shellers pass tocommon separating and grading machines for assortment. As thus designedthe sheller casing is formed by cnd castings 1 and 2 which are providedwith bottom flanges 3, to receive the bolts for anchoring them to thefloor or sub-base, and with side flanges 4 inturned and bolted to theside plates 5 which extend from the top to the bottom of the machine,being preferably caused to slope inwardly so as to form a hopper bottom,this inward slope of the sides being taken care of in the design of theend castings. Angle irons 6 form a top finishfor the side edges and aresecured to the end castings so as to form a rigid structure. To theseangles I attach hinges 7 which connect thereto the up per sections 8 ofthe sectional folding hopper boards. forming the bottom of the feedhopper. Each hopper board comprises an upper section 8 and a lowersection 9, which latter is hinged at 10 to the underside of itsrespective upper section -8 at a oint spaced from its free end edge. Alifting handle 11 is provided near the free edge of each section 8 andby grasping and raising this handle the lower section 9 is free to dropdown and clear the concave grate (see dotted position at the right inFig. 2), after which the hopper board is free to swing down to dottedposition shown at the left in Fig. 2, thus entirely exposing theinternal mechanism of the sheller for inspection and repair. Normallythe hopper boards are supported on the concave grate which will now bedescribed.

The grate is concave in form composed .of a series of longitudinalsections which extend from end to end of the machine, each sectioncomprising a series of transversely curved grate units 12 which abut,end to end, and are rigidly connected in alignment by metal side bars orstraps 13 which extend the full length of each grate section and engagethe flat upper edge of a shoulder 14 provided near the center of eachside of each grate unit (see Fig. 5). Each unit is secured by acountersunk bolt 15 to each side bar 13, the base flanges 14 servingwith the two bolts to hold the grate units rigidly against relativemovement in the longitudinal grate section. I show the concave grateformed by four of these longitudinal transversely curved sections, eachof which subtends a sector of the concave slightly less in extent than90. The working surface of the sectional grate concave is struck on acurve from the longitudinal central axis of the cylindrical shellingchamber. The longitudinal grate sections are assembled in the casing bybeing inserted in a guide formed between an inner circular flange 16 andan outer similarly curved flange 17, on the inner face of each endcasting, the outer flange 17 being interrupted at the top to permit thelongitudinal grate sections, one at a time, to be dropped with theirconcave face down onto the flange 16 and then shifted around into thecurved guide thus formed between the flanges 16 and 17. Fig. 2illustrates the grate sections assembled, and it will be apparent that afeed opening 18 for the entrance of the peanuts into the concave grateis left between the spaced top edges of the two upper grate sectionswhich support the free lower ends of the hopperboards which direct thenuts to such feed opening. 7

Each grate unit is preferably similar and its peculiar construction willbe better understood by reference to Figs. 5 and 6, where it will beseen that it comprises marginal side walls 19and curved end walls 20,the side walls 19 being cross connected by curved parallel webs 21 whichare equi-distantly spaced and like the end walls 20 taper slightly fromtheir flat top surfaces downwardly to their rounded bottom edgessufficient to have draft from the mold. while the end walls areconnected by equi-distantly spaced parallel webs 22, 22, 22 and 22 whichterminate short of the bottom edges their top dges to produce uniformopenings through the grate surface for the downwardly flaring holesthrough the grate. It will be observed by reference to Fig. 5 that thecentral web 22 is symmetrical with refcrence to a vertical longitudinalplane taken centrally through the grate unit but the other webs 22, 22and 22 are not symmetri cal as each has its side face away from the web22 lying parallel with the corresponding fac of said web 22, whil theother side face of each of these webs disposed towards the web 22 arestruck on different curves which from the bottom edge of the webupwardly continue to approach the central web. This peculiar arrangementis important as it permits each of the webs 22 22 22 and 22 to stripvertically from the sand mold notwithstanding the fact that they are setin a curved grate unit and that their upper edges are equi-distantlyspaced about the curved upper surface of the grate unit. Thisarrangement brings the bottom edges of the several webs nearlyequi-distant from each other but spaces the bottom edges of the webs 22a. very substantial distance from the bottom edges of the side walls 19.The

bolt holes 19 in the outwai dly sloping sides 19 are formed withoutcores by providing a notch. below the holes with its side walli inclinedinwardly and merging into the hole. Along the top surface of each sidewall19 and of each longitudinal web 22, 22, 22 and 22 I provide a.series of raised, diamondshaped, humps or projections 23 which arepreferably so disposed as to present a front grinding edge 25 transverseto and a side grinding edge 24 at an angle to the peanuts as they travelover the grate parallel with the webs 21. These faces 24 and 25 arenearly perpendicular to their supporting grate surface. It is alsodesirable that the grinding faces 25 should be inclined at oppositeangles for the adjacent longitudinal rows of humps and the humps shouldbe preferably so staggered that the peanuts traveling parallel with thewebs 21 will engage some portion of one or more of the bumps in eachlongitudinal row. These humps as well as the webs 2t) and 21 arepreferably cast integral with the grate unit sothat the latter can begiven an exceedingly hard wearing surface which will be durable.

The rotating element or rotor of the shelling machine is mounted on ashaft 26 which turns at one end in a bearing 27 attached to the endcasting 2 and at its other end turns in a journal bearing 28 suitablyattached to the end casting 1. ()n the outer end of the shaft is a tightdriving pulley 29. On that portion of the shaft which is disposedbetween the end plates 1 and 2 is mounted the shelling cylinder composedof a series of frusto-conical ribbed disks 30, which disks areduplicates of each other and are arranged in pairs, the units of eachpair having their concave faces brought together and their outerperipheral edges abutting. The several pairs are assembled on the shaft26 with the out-turned flat central surfaces 31 abutting. The outermarginal sloping surface- 32 of each disk is provided with radial ribs33 having reversely sloping end edges and a flat top edge parallel withthe surface 32. The central surface 31 of each disk is provided with acentral opening for the shaft 26. The endmost disks are locked upon theshaft for rotation therewith and tie rods 34 are passed through thealigning apertures in the faces 31 of the disks so that the intermediatedisks are thus rigidly connected with the end disks for rotationtherewith. The outer peripheral edges of the disks are disposed to turnwith about one inch (space between them and the concave grate. Thesloping surfaces 32 of the disks form a plurality of spacedcircumscribed V-shaped channels which cover the effective workingsurface of the rotor and form annular ribbed pockets which receive andfrictionally engage the nuts and drive them with the rotor over theconcave grate in the manner hereinafter described. It is to beunderstood that my invention contemplates the use of other designs ofrotors which are best suited to the peanuts or other material to betreated, it only being essential that the rotor shall not actessentially as a crusher but rather as a driver which will force thenuts to travel over the abrasive grate.

The end castings are braced and connected together by the tie rods 36which thus serve to hold the frame, rotor and grating in assembledposition. Having assembled the rotor in the machine and introduced thefour longitudinal grate sections so that they occupy the proper positionbetween the supporting flanges 16 and 17 to formthe concave grate, Ilock the grate in position by means of set screws 37 which are screwedthrough the end plates 1 and 2 in position to engage the side walls ofthe uppermost grate sections, thus clamping them securely againstrotation and holding the whole grate in rigid position between theflanges 16 and 17. When the hopper boards are set in the full lineposition shown in Fig. 2, the apparatus is ready for service and uponstarting the rotation of the rotor and feeding the nuts through thehopper feed opening 18 into the concave. the shelling operation willcommence. This operation consists in the rapid driving of the rotatingIOU mass of nuts over the abrading surface of the concave at such aspeed as will quickly and effectively reduce the shells by frictionuntil they open and release the nuts, the apparatus being designed toavoid a directcrushing action between the rotor and the grate. As thekernels and shells are thus released and separated by friction, theypass through the outwardly flarin openings in the grate formed betweenthe intersecting webs of the grate units thereof and fall into thebottom hopper and thence are carried off through the aspirator sub-base.As all peanuts as received from the farm contain a large amount ofstems, sticks, roots, etc., in the shelling operation some of these,despite the flaring openings through the grate will become lodged in,and choke the openings of the grate. This makes it necessary for thegrates to be taken out of the machine occasionally and the foreignmatter removed by a cleaning gouge. To do this the hopper board sectionsare raised and dropped to dotted line position, Fig. 2, the set screws37 are loosened and the several longitudinal grate sections are slid upto the top of the flange 16 and lifted out through the notch in flange17 and successively treated and then returned; The flared shape of theopenings in the grate will cause but little trouble from foreign matterlodging in and choking the grate, and this is important as the skin of akernel becomes broken unless it falls through the grate immediately itis freed from its shell. In the event any grate unit becomes damaged orbroken the concave section containing it can be readily removed byremoving its two retainng bolts and lifting it up from between the sidestraps 13 and a new unit dropped in its place and quickly bolted intoplace without dlsturbing the other units in its respective section. Thegrate units, being so designed that they can be cast, are comparativelyinexpensive to manufacture and can be produced with highly hardenedwearing surfaces which will insure great durability.

As illustrative of a modification of my invention, I have shown in Figs.7 and 8 a smaller type of power driven peanut shelling machinecomprising in addition to the rotor and grate, means for separating,screening and grading the product. In this type of machine a woodenframe is generally employed comprising uprights 38 which support at thetop a hopper 39 below which is a casing formed by side walls 40 and endwalls 41. The rotor shaft 42 in this construction is disposed crosswiseof the easing and is mounted in the side walls in suitable bearingshaving fast on one overhung end a main driving pulley 43 and on theother overhung end the pulleys 44 and 45, the former driving by a belt46 and pulley 47 the fan 48 in the fan casing 49, and the latter drivingby a crossed belt 50 a pulley 51 which drives an endless elevator in thecasing 52. On the shaft between the side walls are mounted a series offour frustoconical ribbed disks 30 which, in the design illustrated, arearranged so as to provide two circumscribed V-shaped channels, the twoouter disks having their outer peripheries turning with a close runningcontact with the side walls 40. The concave grate in this design iscomposed of four of the grate units 12 which are inserted side togratepass down a hopper formed by the wall 57 on one side and 58 on the'otherside, and fall through a bottom discharge opening 59 into an air flue 60formed between the wall 57 and a wall 61. This flue extends upwardly anddiagonally through the casing of the machine and at its lower endreceives a blast of air from the fan. The kernels are discharged fromthe flue 60 onto the right hand end of the oscillating, separating andgrading screen 62. This screen is swung by means of hinged arms 63between the uprights of the frame and on each side is connected by meansof eccentric rods 63 with eccentrics 64 on the ends of the fan shaft 65.The peanuts as they are graded pass off through side delivery chutes 66and 67, the unshelled nuts being discharged over the end of the screenthrough a chute 68 into the boot of the ele vator casing 52 by means ofwhich they are elevated and discharged over a chute 69 into the hopper39 and again worked through the machine.

The shelling operation is identical with that already described and theseparation of the shells from the kernels and the grading thereofwill beobtained by the apparatus shown which forms no particular part of mypresent invention. It will be ob vious that the width. of this machinemay be increased to receive two or more circumferential series of grateunits in which case the number of ribbed disks 30 will becorrespondingly increased and the longitudinal series of the grate unitswill be assembled in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3.

The outer peripheral edges of the disks are smooth and will not tend tocrush the peanuts against the grate as the disks rotate. This inventionis not intended to be restricted in scope to the specific embodimentsshown, but contemplates such modifications as come within the spirit andscope of the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. As an article of manufacture, a concavegrate section for peanutshellers formed by an integral casting having spaced longitudinalmembers arranged at their upper surface to form a concave and havingtheir body portions shaped and disposed to have the draft relative to acommon plane to permit it to strip from the mold, the wearing surface ofsaid members being formed with integral abrasive projections.

2. A peanut sheller grate section in accordance with claim 1, in whicheach section is provided with integral projections adapted to engageassembly bars.

3. A peanut sheller grate section in ac- 'cordance with claim 1, inwhich each section is cast with integral lateral offsets adapted toengage an assembly bar and has relatively thin ends which are adapted toabut when the sections are assembled end wlse.

4. A peanut sheller grate section in ac cordance with claim 1, havingintegral diamond shaped abrasive projections on its wear surfaces.

5. A peanut sheller grate section in accordance with claim 1, havingdivergent side edges with shoulders at their base, and having bolt holescast in said side edges.

6. A peanut sheller grate section in accordance with claim 1, which iscast with divergent side edges having integral shoulders along thecentral bottom portion of each, and having cast bolt openings formedsubstantially at the center of each side.

7 In a mechanism of the class described, a concave grate formed of aplurality of CO11C3.VOCOI1V8X sections, each consisting of a castinghaving integral intersecting ribs which form downwardly flaringopenings, the longitudinal ribs of each section being tapered towards,and their corresponding sides having similar directions of slope to, acommon horizontal plane tangent to the longitudinal center of the convexsurface of the section, there being in the oppositely sloping side wallsof the casting bolt holes below which are notches having side wallswhich on opposite sides of the casting slope reversely and divergentlytowards said common plane.

8. In a peanut sheller, end supports, a rotor mounted therein, and aconcave grate partially surrounding the rotor and composed oflongitudinal sections, each section being independently removable as awhole and conprising a plurality of aligning transversely curvedconnected grate units, substantially as described.

9. In a peanut sheller, end supports, a rotor mounted therein, a concavegrate partially surrounding the rotor and composed of independentlyremovable longitudinal sections, each section comprising a plurality ofaligning transversely curved grate units, and side straps-which connecttogether the units of each'section.

10. In a machine of the class described, a rotor and a concave grate,and supports therefor, the grate comprising longitudinal sectionscomposed of transversely curved units, each unit having on each side ashoulder and a tie bar which engages the shoulder and is connected by asingle bolt to the unit to form a composite section, substantially asdescribed.

11. In a machine of the class described, a rotor, a concave grate,supports therefor, the grate comprising longitudinal sections, eachcomposed of a series of curved units, each unit having on its side ashoulder, a tie bar having its under edge engaging said shoulder, and asingle tie bolt disposed midway of each unit and connecting it'to saidbar.

12. The combination with an abrasive concave, of a fast spinning groovedrotor designed to produce and maintain annular whirls of nuts rubbingover the concave.

13. The combination with a fast spinning rotor, of a feed chuteoverhead, an abrasive foraminous concave extending from side to side ofthe chute and concentric with the rotor, the rotor being grooved andspaced sufficiently from the concave to maintain annular whirls of nutstraveling over the concave and under the hopper to be replenishedthereby as the nuts in each whirl are shelled and escape through theconcave.

1 1. The combination with a fast spinning rotor, of an abrasive concave,set to avoid a direct crushing action of the rotor on the nuts therein,and comprising cast concave sections having flaring escape openings forthe separated kernels and shells, and raised integral abrading humpswhich are adapted to wear away the nut shells which are driven over themby the rotor.

15. In a machine of the class described, a removable rotor, and aconcave grate thereabout provided on its inner surface with raised humpsadapted to co-act with the rotor similarly in both directions or itsrotation, the rotor and grate being spaced to avoid a direct crushingaction on the material under treatment.

16. The combination with an abrasive concave, and a fast spinning rotordesigned to produce and maintain annular whirls of nuts rubbing over theconcave, said concave being formed in sections by castings having raisedsubstantially diamond shaped grinding humps on the inner surfacethereof.

17. The combination with a fast spinning rotor, of a concave concentrictherewith and spaced therefrom to avoid any direct crushing action onthe nuts, and having raised diamond shaped abrading humps on its workingsurface.

18. The combination with a fast spinning rotor, of a concave concentrictherewith and spaced therefrom to avoid any direct crushing action onthe nuts, and having raised diamond shaped abrading humps on its workingsurface with the nut engaging edge of each hump at right angles to thepath of the approaching nuts.

19. The combination with a fast spinning rotor, of a concave concentrictherewith and spaced therefrom to avoid any direct crushing action onthe nuts, and having raised diamond shaped abrading humps on its workingsurface disposed with the nutengaging edge of each hump at right anglesto the path of the approaching nuts, the bumps being arranged inlongitudinal rows and staggered relatively in the rows to present anabrasive element to all nuts in the concave.

20. In combination, a fast spinning rotor having circumferential ribbedchannels, and a concentric spaced concave having abrasive projectionsover which the nuts to be shelled are caused to travel in whirls inducedby the rotor.

21. A mechanism of the class described comprising a concave and a rotorrevolubly mounted within the concave, said rotor having a plurality ofcircumscribing channels, the walls of which converge inwardly and areprovided with a plurality of spaced projections, and the concave beingforaminous and free of projections adapted to obstruct said channels inthe rotor.

22. A mechanism of the class described comprising a concave, a rotorformed by a series of frusto-conical disks having spaced unsharpenedribs on their inclined annular faces, and rotatable means to supportsaid disks concentrically, the concave being foraminous and free ofprojections adapted to obstruct said channels in the rotor.

23. A mechanism of the class described comprising a concave, a rotorformed by a series of frusto-conical disks having unsharpenedprojections on their inclined annular faces, and rotatable means tosupport said disks concentrically, the disks being arranged relativelyon said support to present a series of circumscribing V-shaped grooves,the concave being foraminous and free of projections adapted to obstructsaid channels in the rotor.

24. A mechanism of the class described comprising a rotor formed by aseries of cave being pendently removable sections,

frusto-conical disks having projections on their inclined annular faces,and rotatable means to support said disks concentrically,

the disks being arranged relatively on said support to present a seriesof circumscribv rest on the upper edges of the concave,

the hopper walls being each formed by lapped sections hinged to breakupwardly,

as and for the purposes described.

26. A mechanism of the class described including spaced supports, aconcave composed of longitudinal sections located between the supports,and an inner annular and an outer segmental seat on each support fordemountably supporting the concave sections between them.

27. A mechanism of the class described including spaced supports,connecting elements extending between the uprights. a rotor, and aconcave including a plurality of arcuate sections forming each a segmentof the concave subtending an arc of slightly less than curved guides onthe spaced supports onto which the concave sections can be dropped oneat a time and shifted laterally to complete the concave, and set screwsdisposed to engage the upper spaced concave sections on each side tohold all in place.

28. A rotor, a concave formed of longitudinal sections which areindependently removable, a frame having guides open overhead for theremoval and insertion of said grate sections, and anove'rhead hopper, abottom wall of which normally rests on and is movable to expose thegrate section under it.

29. A rotor, a concave formed of longitudinal sections which. areindependently removable, a frame having guides open overhead for theremoval and insertion of said grate sections, and an overhead hopper,both bottom walls of which normally rest on and are movable to exposethe grate sections under them.

30. In a peanut sheller, a frame, a coacting rotor and concave therein,the conformed of longitudinal, indeend guides in the frame, the outer ofwhich is open overhead for the removal and insertion of said sections,and a feed hopper having its bottom formed of hinged articulatedsections which can be folded to concave sections below them.

31. A peanut sheller comprising a secexpose the tional concave, guidestherefor open overhead for the insertion and removal of said sections, arotor, and a hopper to feed nuts thereto having its bottom formed byhinged articulated sections capable of being moved to expose theconcave. said sections being normally disposed With their lower endsmore closely spaced than the opening in the guides, as and for thepurposes described.

32. A shelling machine comprising hinged foldable Walls forming a tophopper, end walls, a concave formed by longitudinal sections, an annularbearing in each Wall onto which the sections can be dropped when thehopper Walls are folded back, an outer guide to hold the sections inplace forming a concave complete except for the feed opening, and meansto fold the hopper Walls down to direct stock into said feed opening.

In testimony whereof I aihx my signature.

JOHN THOMAS HUSTON. Witness:

F. L. MCEACHERN.

